Christina Aguilera admits relationships can be difficult because she didn't "grow up" with parental role models.

Christina Aguilera

Christina Aguilera

The 'Beautiful' hitmaker - who has been publicly open about domestic abuse she witnessed between her father and her mother when she was younger - admitted seeing her parents divorce when she was just six years old means she didn't have "a great idea" about how to make them work.

Speaking to the Sunday Times' Style magazine, she said: "It's hard if you don't grow up with a great idea of what a relationship is or what functionality is."

And Christina - who has son Max, 11, with ex-husband Jordan Bratman, and daughter Summer, five, with fiancé Matthew Rutler - revealed she and her former flame have made sure to put their boy first following their split in 2010.

She explained: "We co-parent really well together. It's so great that my son has both of us, both homes. What's most important whenever a marriage doesn't work is that the kids are taken care of emotionally, their needs are met, and you try not to bring them into the heaviness of it.

"I think we've done a great job of that, but it really takes a lot of communication and putting your kids first, beyond your own needs."

And despite their breakup almost a decade ago, the AGE-year-old singer confirmed she has no plans of covering up the tattoo she still has of her ex's name in Hebrew and Spanish.

Laughing at the idea and then opening up about her body image, she added: "I feel more confident about my body now. I never want to go back to that 20-year-old, those insecurities and feeling a certain way about yourself and having to be a certain way. I feel like I've put in the work for my body too. The work as a mom, as a giver."